§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will investigate the circumstances which led to the second cancellation of a rotator cuff repair operation for a constituent, Mr. Bruce, at the Avon Orthopaedic Centre on 7 March. [114143]
§ Ms StuartContinuing high numbers of medical admissions have necessitated the postponement of a number of orthopaedic operations. Decisions about the postponement of operations are taken by clinicians on the basis of clinical priority.
The trust is taking action to maintain its elective capacity by the use of weekend operating lists, the use of local independent hospitals to enable routine surgical operations to be performed by national Health Service surgeons operating in NHS time, and buying places in private nursing homes to facilitate the discharge of medical patients.